Topical issues of determining the conditions for the legality of harm caused by the suppression of crimes and administrative offenses by law enforcement officers

Relevance. it seems relevant to consider the issue of the conditions for the legality of causing harm when suppressing socially dangerous attacks by law enforcement officers, in particular, the theoretical understanding of the conditions of legality enshrined in “special legislation” and the identification of situations where violation of these conditions of legality may entail liability for causing harm. harm if the limits of necessary defense are exceeded. The study of this issue will be carried out using the example of police officers and the National Guard.

The purpose of the study is to theoretically understand the conditions for the legality of harm caused using the example of the activities of police officers and the National Guard, when the latter suppress crimes and administrative offenses.

Objectives. Identify possible problems associated with the exercise by law enforcement officers of the right to necessary defense.

Methodology. The methodological basis of the study was the general dialectical method of cognition of phenomena and processes of the surrounding reality. In the course of developing the theoretical provisions of the work, formal-logical, formal-legal, statistical, method of interpretation of legal norms and other methods were also used.

Results. When deciding on the legality of the harm caused, the law enforcement officer focuses on compliance by police officers and the National Guard with the conditions for the legality of the use of force and weapons, enshrined in “special legislation” without taking into account the “general” conditions for the legality of necessary defense. At the same time, even if they are observed, police officers and the National Guard are subject to criminal prosecution for causing harm when using force and weapons.

Conclusions. As part of the study, the authors come to the conclusion that when assessing the harm caused by law enforcement officers when suppressing socially dangerous attacks, both the general conditions for the legality of necessary defense and additional ones enshrined in “special” legislation should be taken into account.

1. Kobozev A.A., Korobov V.B. Legislative regulation of the use of firearms by police officers: problems and solutions. Vestnik Vserossiiskogo instituta povysheniya kvalifikatsii sotrudnikov Ministerstva vnutrennikh del Rossiiskoi Federatsii = Bulletin of the All-Russian Institute for Improving the Qualification of Employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation. 2024;(1):34‒41. (In Russ.)

2. Nikolaeva T.V. On the issue of criminal law regulation of the conditions for the legality of necessary defense. In: Shayakhmetov A.M. (ed.) Aktual'nye problemy sovremennykh obshchestvennykh nauk v usloviyakh sotsial'no-politicheskikh i ekonomicheskikh transformatsii: materialy XI Vserossiiskoi nauchno-prakticheskoi konferentsii molodykh uchenykh = Actual problems of modern social sciences in the context of socio-political and economic transformations: materials of the XI All-Russian Scientific and Practical Conference of Young Scientists. Ufa: Bashkirskaya akad. gos. sluzhby i upravleniya pri Glave Respubliki Bashkortostan; 2022. P. 287‒292. (In Russ.)

3. Vestov F.A., Yakubzhonov Zh.M. Certain aspects of establishing signs of necessary defense or exceeding it. In: Transformatsiya pravovykh institutov i metodov obespecheniya sanitarno-epidemiologicheskogo blagopoluchiya i ekologicheskoi bezopasnosti v Rossii, stranakh SNG i Evropeiskogo soyuza: materialy IX Mezhdunarodnoi nauchno-prakticheskoi konferentsii prepodavatelei, prakticheskikh sotrudnikov, studentov, magistrantov, aspirantov = Transformation of legal institutions and methods of ensuring sanitary and epidemiological well-being and environmental safety in Russia, the CIS countries and the European Union: materials of the IX International Scientific and Practical Conference of Teachers, Practitioners, Students, Undergraduates, Postgraduates. Saratov: Saratovskii istochnik; 2023. P. 49‒53. (In Russ.)

4. Garmyshev Ya.V., Ishigeev V.S. Necessary defense: problematic aspects of theory and practice, ways to improve the legislation of Russia. Sibirskie ugolovno-protsessual'nye i kriminalisticheskie chteniya = Siberian criminal Procedural and criminalistic readings. 2023;(3):17‒25. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.17150/2411-6122.2023.3.17-25

5. Sil'nikov A.M. Features of the legal regulation of the use of special means by police officers. Administrativnoe pravo i protsess = Administrative law and process. 2011;(9):61‒63. (In Russ.)

6. Lyapin D.O. The ratio of the norms of Chapter 8 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and the regulations of industry legislation on the use of weapons. Pravo v Vooruzhennykh Silakh - Voenno-pravovoe obozrenie = Law in the Armed Forces - Military Law Review. 2022;(10):73‒84. (In Russ.)

7. Boev D.V. Decriminalization in law enforcement of harm caused by law enforcement officers in the performance of official duties. Yuridicheskaya nauka = Legal Science. 2024;(2):161‒166. (In Russ.)

8. Blinov A.G., Lopashenko N.A., Bytko S.Yu., et all. Russian criminal law. The general part. Moscow: Yurlitinform; 2024. 680 p. (In Russ.)

9. Nikulenko A.V. Public danger as a "vestige" of criminal law. Obshchestvennaya opasnost' v ugolovnom, ugolovno-ispolnitel'nom prave i kriminologii: materialy XIV Rossiiskogo kongressa ugolovnogo prava = Public danger in criminal, penal enforcement law and criminology: materials of the XIV Russian Congress of Criminal Law. Moscow: Yurlitinform; 2024. P. 88‒92. (In Russ.)

10. Drobot S.A. Participation in military operations and circumstances excluding crime. Vestnik Chelyabinskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta. Seriya: Pravo = Bulletin of the Chelyabinsk State University. Series: Law. 2023;8(4):46‒49. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.47475/2618-8236-2023-8-4-46-49

11. Nikulenko A.V., Smirnov M.A. Problems of legal assessment of harm caused by police officers, the Russian Guard, military personnel of the Federal Security Service of Russia and the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation during counter-terrorism operations. Vestnik SanktPeterburgskogo universiteta MVD Rossii = Bulletin of the St. Petersburg University of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia. 2023;(1):101‒109. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.35750/2071-8284-2023-1-101-109

12. Boev D.V. Criteria determining the moments of the beginning and end of the state of necessary defense. Problemy ekonomiki i yuridicheskoi praktiki = Problems of economics and legal practice. 2024;20(1):108‒111. (In Russ.)

13. Kirichenko V.F. The main issues of the doctrine of necessary defense in Soviet criminal law. Moscow, Leningrad: Izd-vo i 2-ya tip. Izd-va Akad. nauk SSSR; 1948. 108 p. (In Russ.)

14. Ozerova Yu.S., Kirikova M.V. On the issue of causing harm during the detention of a person who committed a crime. Ugolovnoe zakonodatel'stvo: vchera, segodnya, zavtra: materialy ezhegodnoi Mezhdunarodnoi nauchno-prakticheskoi konferentsii = Criminal law: yesterday, today, tomorrow: materials of the annual International scientific and practical conference,. Sankt-Petersburg: Sankt-Peterburgskii un-t MVD RF; 2023. P. 199‒202. (In Russ.)

15. Merkur'ev V.V., Tarakanov I.A. Issues of necessary defense in the explanations of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation: changes due to the needs of law enforcement. Vestnik Universiteta prokuratury Rossiiskoi Federatsii = Bulletin of the University of the Prosecutor's Office of the Russian Federation. 2023;(1):21‒26. (In Russ.)

16. Merkur'ev V.V., Tarakanov I.A. Necessary defense: the problem of timeliness of defensive actions in case of threat of encroachment. Pravo v Vooruzhennykh Silakh - Voennopravovoe obozrenie = Law in the Armed Forces - Military Law Review. 2017;(6):91‒95. (In Russ.)

17. Akimochkin V.I. Imaginary defense or an actual mistake: comparative legal analysis. Vestnik Moskovskogo gosudarstvennogo lingvisticheskogo universiteta. Obrazovanie i pedagogicheskie nauki = Bulletin of the Moscow State Linguistic University. Education and pedagogical sciences. 2019;(3):283‒290. (In Russ.)

18. Tarakanov I.A. Features of accounting for the presence of weapons or other items used as weapons when resolving the issue of the presence or absence of signs of exceeding the limits of necessary defense. Penitentsiarnoe pravo: yuridicheskaya teoriya i pravoprimenitel'naya praktika = Penitentiary law: legal theory and law enforcement practice. 2022;(1):48‒54. (In Russ.)

19. Malkin V.R. The limits of necessary defense. Legislative regulation and law enforcement practice. Nauchnyi vestnik Orlovskogo yuridicheskogo instituta MVD Rossii imeni V.V. Luk'yanova = Scientific Bulletin of the Oryol Law Institute of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia named after V.V. Lukyanov. 2023;(2):135‒143. (In Russ.)

20. Nikulenko A.V., Smirnov M.A. The institute of necessary defense in the activities of law enforcement officers. St. Petersburg: Yuridicheskii tsentr; 2023. 480 p. (In Russ.)